Kanotototori - Father's Lawyer

Can't wait for her to do something villainous and half her current fans will crumble away because Genshin villain fuckers are weak

Black Butler (2024) | Official Trailer

Crunchyroll emphasized that the anime is not a remake, but a new season of the anime. The new season of Black Butler TV anime will premiere in 2024.

Key visual

Cast

Daisuke Ono as Sebastian Michaelis

Maaya Sakamoto as Ciel Phantomhive

Staff

Director: Kenjiro Okada

Script: Hiroyuki Yoshino

Character Designer: Yumi Shimizu

Music: Ryo Kawasaki

Original Creator: Yana Toboso

Animation Production: CloverWorks

not something I will or want to render fully, but I like that subtle haziness to them, they're so dreamy

I'm absolutely obsessed with the way the finale of the Jack the Ripper arc establishes the foundation for the dynamic between Sebastian and Ciel but I've never really seen anyone attempt to break everything down (and if it's been done before it's likely lost to time and the transient nature of internet data), so I thought I'd take some time to do that. I'll be using the official English translation for this because the image quality of the fan translations that are widely available is hideous. Tumblr's image limit per post is a little too low for this, so please be prepared to endure my image editing skills.

This is going to be pretty long, so everything will be beneath the cut.

Most people will probably remember the exchange between Grell and Sebastian for how goofy it was and that's fair, it's iconic for the series. But if you're an older fan and just haven't thought about it deeply since you first read it or you were too young to notice (I didn't), there are some interesting elements come into play during this conversation that set the tone for Sebastian and Ciel's relationship for the rest of the series.

Sebastian asks Grell why she would play the role of butler and Grell attributes it to falling in love. This is the first instance where love comes into play in relation to the master/servant dynamic, and it's a fairly important reoccurring theme. Very noteworthy but easily missed is the attention to all of Ciel's reactions throughout this scene.

After the exchange with his aunt is ended by Grell murdering her out of displeasure for her show of emotions, we get another emphasis on Ciel's reaction. And of course we should! Because his aunt was murdered in front of his very eyes!! But this line from Grell is not a throwaway line and we'll come back to it later.

Grell's asserts a certain kind of relationship between Sebastian and Ciel. This prompts Sebastian to, fairly dramatically, declare his devotion to Ciel and Ciel's ownership over him. It's pretty serious stuff. Romantic, even. Keep in mind the bit said about the butler's aesthetic and philosophy.

So, this is where two things come into play. Grell introduces information about the nature of demons and if I recall correctly, it's actually one of the first references in the series to demons devouring souls. Grell follows this up by invoking Romeo and Juliet, which is very funny! But the gag easily draws attention away from the implications of what Sebastian says next: he says that he made a vow to Ciel beneath the moon, turning Grell's reference around to apply it to himself and his master. Which actually has the effect of turning his declaration of loyalty into, essentially, a bizarre declaration of love. Their covenant was also literally formed in the middle of night, which is worth noting.

Grell then brings up the superstition relating to swearing on the moon (which comes up in the play) and calls Sebastian insincere, defiler incapable of love, which is an accusation you will continue to hear for another hundred or so chapters of the manga, albeit with different wording.

On a fun note: the Romeo and Juliet reference may have gone over Ciel's head a bit because his small "Who is that?" in the one panel may imply he's not familiar with it. It'd be funny if he ever figured it out someday.

So, a summary of what's been established in this very short period of time:

Master and servant dynamics in-series being based upon love as a theme.

A master and servant dynamic coming to an end when one servant kills their master for showing their emotional weakness.

Sebastian making a show of his devotion to Ciel, with purposeful romantic implications.

Demons devouring souls as a concept. The notion of Sebastian being insincere and incapable of love.

All of the above being internalized by Ciel. He's still there in the background making wobbly-eyed faces.

The fight ends when William prevents Sebastian from killing Grell. William's entrance serves the dual purpose of introducing further hostility towards demons into the narrative. This is where Sebastian makes something like a mistake, revealing his contempt for humans. While he may be speaking predominantly of Grell and Madam Red (hence their image), it applies to Ciel as well, who is still there. He also makes no attempts to defend himself from the accusations made against his nature as a demon. Which I get. I'd feel the same way. Believe all that shit and leave me the fuck alone!!! Remember the line about no sense of fidelity.

I really do question Sebastian's ability to genuinely gauge temperature through his gloves, considering about a hundred chapters later he couldn't even find a tiny needle prick on Ciel's arm without tearing his clothes off (he likes his cheeks, I think he just wanted to touch them) but whatever, not the point.

Ciel is having a shitty day and Sebastian has the shortest term memory I've ever seen because he's already forgotten that he's just technically disparaged Ciel in his comment made about humans while also refusing to categorically deny any of the claims made against him. So it's not really surprising that his resumed doting upon Ciel like absolutely nothing just happened got him a smack. That was dumb. You're dumb, Sebastian.

So, the funeral happens. Ciel did a nice thing by getting the final victim a headstone but he doesn't want it to be perceived this way. Which is no small wonder when you remember (and it's easy to forget by now) that his aunt was killed by her faux-butler for an unfavorable show of emotion. Sebastian antagonizes Ciel for not shooting Madam red when he had the chance and accuses him of cowardice. It's a bit needlessly cruel but when you remember that, in Ciel's flashback of the covenant's formation, Ciel said that he wanted to kill his parents' murderers himself, it makes more sense. Their covenant was formed on the promise that Ciel would be strong enough to eventually claim his vengeance with his own hands.

So then it makes even more sense when Ciel denies all of this, throws the contract in his face, and then begins aggressively quoting lines from the exchanges with William and Grell. Beliefs and loyalty was alluded to in William's remark about fidelity. Aesthetic and philosophy was verbatim from Sebastian. Because Ciel was there listening. None of that happened in a vacuum, Sebastian. It also makes more sense again in his flashback to the covenant when he confesses his belief that he can't trust anyone anymore, which was enforced in this arc by the murder of Angelina at Grell's hands. And it's all very convincing until you see the deeply miserable look on his face as he walks away.

All of this continues to be referenced throughout the rest of the series and is the foundation for their gay little Masochism Tango. You can even argue that Ciel's outburst at the end of the circus arc is a belated sort of reply to this conversation of theirs (as well as a response to Sebastian's overture towards his weakness in The Puke Scene). Yes, humans are weak and awful and pathetic and Ciel is human! Which is fine, bocchan. Humans are fascinating, bocchan, it's not that big of a deal, calm down. Sebastian continues to make overtures to Ciel, and Ciel continues to assert Sebastian's unfeeling, beastly nature while playing into the behaviors he thinks Sebastian approves of.

I'm just. I guess there should be a better closure to this but all I have is that I'm so Marge Simpson potato about the writing for this arc. I just think it's neat!!